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Our guide
Tendō, in the Yamagata Basin, is the town of shōgi pieces and hot springs: it makes about 95 percent of Japan's shōgi pieces, a designated traditional craft. Shōgi monuments stand all over town, and the bridges over the Kurazu River are named after the pieces. Every year in late April, professional players direct a game of “human shōgi”, with people standing in as the pieces, on the summit of Maizuru-yama, the site of Tendō Castle — the day to be here if you can.
The hot-spring district is about ten minutes' walk from Tendō Station on the Ōu Main Line.
Written by japan-spots.com (2026-09-22) from the sources credited on this page. Distances are straight lines between map positions.
Photos
Photos from Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence — see credits
- Tendō — edsnakahara · CC BY 2.0 · source · resized
- Tendo-Post-Office — Suz-b · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source · resized
- Tendo City Hospital — Ebiebi2 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source · resized
- Tendō City, Yamagata Prefecture — ウィキ太郎 (Wiki Taro) · Public domain · source · resized
- Tendō Station 天童駅 2019-8-4 — ウィキ太郎 (Wiki Taro) · Public domain · source · resized
- Tendo-onsen Shinoda hospital, Tendo — Suz-b · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source · resized
- Tendo park — Drivephotographer · CC0 · source · resized
- JR天童駅東口20241116-P1059958 — くろふね · CC BY 4.0 · source · resized
What this place is
Tendō, in the Yamagata Basin, is known as the town of shōgi pieces and hot springs: it makes about 95 percent of Japan's shōgi pieces, a designated traditional craft. Shōgi monuments stand all over town and bridges over the Kurazu River are named after the pieces. Each year in late April, professional players direct a game of “human shōgi”, with people as pieces, on the summit of Maizuru-yama, the site of Tendō Castle. The hot spring district is about ten minutes' walk from Tendō Station.
Background text translated from Japanese Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
What to expect at this type of place: Landmark
Nearby station
Nearby station: Tendō (Ōu Main Line), about 850 m from the spot in a straight line.
Worked out on 2026-09-14 from this place’s map position, using HeartRails Express station data and station names from Wikidata. The distance is a straight line, not a walking route, and says nothing about buses, transfers or timetables — plan the trip on Google Maps.
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